Handle with selectively usable wrench heads attaching units



June 1962 H. G. HANSON HANDLE WITH SELECTIVELY USABLE WRENCH HEADSATTACHING UNITS Filed April 8. 1960 Harris 6. Hanson 1N VENTOR.

ilnited States Patent 3,039,339 HANDLE WITH SELECTIVELY USABLE WRENCHHEADS ATTACHING UNITS Harris G. Hanson, 220 Work RCEME, Fort Nelson,British Columbia, Canada Filed Apr. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 20,939 4 Claims.(Cl. 81-177) This invention relates to hand tools, generally speaking,but has reference in particular to a handle having novel attachments orunits which are detachably mounted on the ends of the handle, saidattachments being expressly designed and adapted to accommodatingly andsecurely mount Wrench heads on the handle.

The expression wrench heads will he used herein in a general or genericsense to comprehend, let us say, conventional-type sockets of the manyand various sizes in use, box end wrenches, and open end or so-calledcrowfoot wrenches, each of which has a suitable work-gripping head at anouter end and a hole or socket at the inner end and provided, as isusually the case, with a plurality of spring-loaded ball retainers ordetents. As is known, machine elements and companion parts are assembledand held together by nuts. bolts, cap screws and similar fasteners ofmore or less standard sizes and shapes. End wrenches and sockets areobviously of countless sizes and shapes. Special purpose tools toonumerous to touch upon here are also in vogue inasmuch as, through theyears, the work areas have become increasingly inaccessible to repairmenand .mechanics. This ever changing picture, so to speak, constitutes theproblem which has given rise to the instant endeavor to solve itsatisfactorily.

To the end desired, the present invention pertains to improved handlemeans which makes it possible for the user to assemble, on the spot, thedesired handle shape which he will need for a given or particular jobwhere, for example, the conventional wrench head must necessarily do itsjob in a place difiicult of access. Stated otherwise, the handle meansherein disclosed will serve the unique purposes for which it is designedand intended.

Admittedly, it is impractical for the average mechanic or workman totransport, care for, purchase and store all of the special purposewrenches and tools that may be required for eiiicient service and repairwork. It follows that the instant concept has to do with simple,practical and economical means the use of which will overcome many ofthe difficulties and problems which currently beset the required usersthereof.

It is to be pointed out at the outset that the present inventioncomprehends not only the aforementioned handle means characterized byselectively usable wrench head attaching units or adapters, but aneasy-to-convert manually usable sectional or knockdown tool. Brieflysummarized, this improved too-l is characterized by an elongated handle,an individual conventional-type wrench head having a work-grip at oneend and handle attaching and retaining means at the other end, andadapting and positioning means interposed between the handle and wrenchhead and separably joined to said other end and also separably joined toone end of said handle, said means being disposed in a plane with itslengthwise axis at a right angle to the lengthwise axis of said handle,said means serving to transmit the applied force of the handle to saidhead and making it possible to effectually utilize the thus coupled headand handle in places otherwise difficult of access.

Reverting to the handle means as distinguished from the aforementionedcomplete ready-to-use tool, this has to do with a means for the usethereon of the aforementioned 'wrench heads. This handle means comprisesa handle having a lateral arm at at least one end, said arm beingoptionally variable and adjustable in length to cope with ever-varyingwork requirements, the outer end of said arm having means whereby anyone of the aforementioned wrench heads may be removably but operativelyattached thereto.

Novelty is also predicated on the construction mentioned wherein saidarm is detachably joined to said handle and also is adjustable in thesense that it may be either straight from end to end or curved at theouter end, whereby the handle and wrench head may be related angularlydepending on the requirements of the job at hand.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of one of the attaching units, alsoreferred to as an insertable and removable and selectively usable link;

FIG. 2 is a View in perspective of the same type of link or unit exceptthat the socket-forming hole and keying stud have oblique anglerelationship in respect to the lengthwise dimension of the links body;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the handle per se;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional open end wrench commonlyreferred to as a crowfoot wrench and constituting one of theaforementioned wrench heads;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a socket with a portion broken awayand appearing in section;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view showing the handle with an adapterlink keyed on the upper end and a corresponding adapter link on thelower end attached to a crowfoot wrench;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view illustrating the aforementioned adjustable armmade up of a plurality of the adapter links;

FIG. 8 is a plan view similar to FIG. 7 but showing one of the anglinglinks (FIG. 2) in use; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a diiferent arrangement of links in amade-up arm, and with several links in an alternate arrangement inphantom lines.

The handle (FIG. 3) 10 comprises an elongated rod 12 having a head 14 atthe top provided with a recess or socket 16 provided interiorly withspring-loaded detents (not detailed). The lower end is provided 'with aslightly reduced stub-shank 18 with ball detents 20. In practiceseveral, more or less, handles of diiferent lengths will be used.

Two of the aforementioned wrench heads are seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. Theone in FIG. 4 denoted at 22 is a crowfoot or open end wrench the headportion being denoted at 24 and the socket at 26, the same beingprovided with ball detents 28. The socket, also conventional, is seen inFIG. and is denoted by the numeral 30 and has a work-gripping head 32and a socket 34 provided with suitable b-all detents.

Any number of adapter and attaching units or links may be employed inmaking up the angularly adjustable extension arms seen for example inFIGS. 7, 8 and 9. Each link or adapter is basically the same and willvary only in size. The adapter seen in FIG. 1 is denoted by the numeral36 and comprises a rigid body 38 the left hand end 40 of which isthinned by tapering as at 42. The broader opposite end 44 has a socketor hole 46 therein and both this socket and the square keying stud atthe end 40, the latter denoted at 48, have spring-loaded ball detents50. 1

As seen in full hues in FIG. 6, a single adapter link or unit is inplace at the upper socketed end of the handle. This link takes aposition at right angles to the axis of the handle. The keying stud 48is fitted into the socket and removably retained in place. The socket orhole 46 at the left is available for the accommodation of a readilyapplicable and removable wrench head (not shown).

At the bottom the adapter link is reversed in relation to the one seenat the top and here the end portion 44 underlies the shouldered end ofthe handle and the stubshank 18 is fitted into the socket 46 and held inplace by the retaining balls. As seen here the crowfoot wrench isattached to the stud 48 and the adjacent end portions of the wrench headand link are overlapped thus spacing the wrench head from the handle byway of the intervening coupling link 36.

The aforementioned arm, where a reach arm is needed for a particularjob, is made up of a plurality of links joined together and with thewrench head or end wrench on the remote end of the arm. Thus one end ofthe arm is connected to the handle, the wrench head is spaced away, andthe links of the arm accommodate this particular assemblage.

In the same manner, an arm may be constructed as shown in FIG. 8 whereinthe two links are in line with each other and the other special link 52(FIG. 2) is brought into play. This permits the wrench head to be angledin the manner shown. The same result is possible by using two or threelinks to make up the arm as illustrated in FIG. 9. Obviously, all of thevarious ways in which the links may be assembled to accomplish thedifferent results need not be herein illustrated.

With respect to the link 52, this comprises a body 54, an oblique angledrectangular keying stud '56 with ball detent means 58 at one end and anoblique angled hole or socket 60 at the end 62 and provided with a balldetent 64. The tapered end is designated at 66.

This improved tool, and especially the handle means, will enable personswho require extreme lightness and compactness in a wrench kit, to carrya kit covering all possible anticipated needs for emergency repairs.

This wrench handle consisting of six pieces (to which more may be addedat users option) will, when used with standard crowfoot end wrenches,sockets and extensions found in any mechanics tool kit, solve theproblem of turning nuts and bolts in places difiicult of access. It canbe assembled almost instantly then reassembled for a difiierentapplication thereof.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An easy-to-convert manually usable tool comprising, in combination,an elongated handle, a conventional-type nut and stud-engaging wrenchhead having a work-grip at one end and attaching and retaining means atthe other end, and adapting and positioning means for said wrench headinterposed between the handle and wrench head and separably joined tosaid other end and also separably joined to one end of said handle, saidmeans being disposed in a plane with its lengthwise axis at a rightangle to the lengthwise axis of said handle, serving to directly andpositively transmit the force applied to the handle to said wrench headand comprising a rigid wrench head supporting, position-extending andoffsetting link, said handle comprising a rod having means at either endfor accommodating and joining said link separably thereto, said linkbeing linearly straight and having a square socket at one end providedwith spring-loaded ball detents, and a lateral rectangular stud at theother end also provided with spring-loaded ball detents, said socket andstud being of corresponding cross-sectional dimension.

2. Handling means for conventional-type wrench heads such as sockets,open end and box end wrenches comprising: a handle having a laterallyprojecting arm at at least one end of said handle, said arm beingadapted to support and operate a selectively usable wrench head andbeing optionally variable and adjustable in length to cope withever-varying work requirements, said arm having means on an outer endwhereby one of the aforementioned wrench heads may be removably butoperatively attached thereby and mounted thereon, said arm beingdetachably joined at an inner end thereof to said handle and also beingvariable in plan so that it may be rendered straight from end to end orangled to the left or the right of the straight line defined when saidarm is straight in a lengthwise direction whereby the handle and wrenchhead, when in operative position on said arm, may be related angularlydepending on the requirements of the job at hand, said arrn embodying aplurality of adapter links adjacent ends of which are separablyconnected together, said adjacent ends being overlapped, each link beingthe same in construction and having a square socket at one end providedwith spring-loaded ball detents, and a lateral rectangular stud at theother end also provided with spring-loaded ball detents, said socket andstud being of corresponding crosssectional dimensions.

3. Handling means for conventional-type wrench heads such as sockets,open end and box end wrenches comprising an elongated linearly straightrod providing a handle and having, at one end, an axial keying andretaining socket with internal ball detents, and having, at the otherend, an axial keying and retaining stub-shank with accompanying balldetents, at least one rigid adapter link for supporting and offsetting awrench head, said link being applicably attachable at one end to eitherend of the handle and having a mating ball-detent-equipped lateral studat one end to fit into said keying socket, and a socketforming hole atthe other end for removable reception and retention of said stub-shank,said stud and said hole both being square in cross-sectional shape andcooked at an angle so that the marginal surfaces are disposed at obliqueangles relative to the lengthwise axial center of the overall link.

4. For use in turning and driving screw-threaded nuts and headed studs,an adjustable hand tool comprising, in combination, a Wrench head havingmeans at one end for releasably engaging a nut on the head of a stud andfor turning the same and having a keying and stud receiving andretaining square socket at the other end, a rigid elongated handleadapted to assume a position with its longitudinal axis at right anglesto the axis of said wrench head when in use, said handle embodying astraight rod having an axially disposed keying and retaining socket andinternal ball detents at one end, having an axially projecting keyingand retaining stub-shank with accompanying ball detents at the otherend, a plurality of straight rigid wrench head supporting and adjustinglinks, said links being adapted to project to assume a position at rightangles to the axis of said handle, at least one of said links having asquare socket at its handle-attached end provided with spring-loadedball detents, the other end of said link having a lateral rectangularstud also provided With spring-loaded b-all detents, said socket andstud being of corresponding cross-sectional dimensions, the stud on saidhandle being fitted retentively but releasably in the square socketprovided therefor on the cooperating end of said link, the stud on saidlink fitting into the socket provided therefor in the aforementionedWrench head, the adjacent end portions of said Wrench head and linkbeing disposed in overlapping relationship.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,018,112 Do s F b. 2 1 12 6 Parsons et a1. June 20, Osburn Feb. 27,Mandl Sept. 9, Mulcay Feb. 28, Randall May 1, Scott May 19,

FOREIGN PATENTS France May 5, Australia Aug. 16,

OTHER REFERENCES Circular published by Jo Manufacturing Co., June 24, 151946, 8442 Otis St. South Gate, Calif,

